Question
Reepicheep & Peepiceek
Hello again =)
Okay, here is a 'quick' history: My current mice, Reepicheep and Peepiceek, are preparing for the April 2nd Petco ball derby! My two cats have never shown any interest in the mice, in balls or out, in fact they seem a little scared of them! However (long story in short) we now have a third cat, much younger and a LOT more playful and curious than the other two. We actually got him from my mice's veterinarian, so he was used to small animals there. Here at home he never really knew about the mice: They are on top of a desk inside the closet, and all day we leave the doors open so I can look at/play with them. At night we shut the closet, keeping in the hamster and two mice, because one of the cats is known to sit on top of the aquarium (I have no idea why this is so entertaining, but she almost tipped the cage once so I stopped it). Now, our third cat known as Pete, is VERY entertained by the mice. I took them out and let them run in their balls around him for the first time he has been here, and he absolutely FREAKED out! He chased them wherever they ran and sat and sniffed them. I tried to pull Peep out to clean her ball and he raced around following me, anxious to bat at Peep. I was very nervous of him, so I kept him away while I cleaned the mice's cage and kept them in a box. Pete sat and stared at them while I cleaned. He never tried to hop up to the cage to look in, but he may soon start that. Whenever I leave for school I keep the doors shut. I don't think he could squeeze through them, but he might start trying.
My room is the only room to keep his things (litter box, food, etc) in so it is his 'main room' - also the location of or rodents.
Question: Should I deter him away from the mice? As in, lock him out of the room during play-time?
Question 2: Is it safe to put orange peels around the mice's cage? I know they can't have citrus, but cats hate the smell and it would keep Pete away, so then I can keep the doors open.
Also, I cannot move the mice or Pete's location, they must both stay in the room. It is not an option to remove either of them, also!
So far they have been fine, no incidents have occurred, but I need to be ready. Pete gets very playful around small, moving things. Even small non-moving things!
AnswerDear Sarah,
By all means you must take Pete out of the room when the girls are training. A tragedy could happen in a split second. Maybe you can lock him in the bathroom for an hour? It would be simply terrifying for the mouse to be batted by the cat, in the ball or out. And of course you don't want the mice to be scared to be in the ball or they won't perform.
You need a better mouse/cat solution than keeping the mice in a closed closet. They need to experience day time as well. When I was a kid I had pet mice in aquariums and I had cats. I had very sturdy 1/4 inch steel mesh tops on the cages that the cats could sit on. Cats want to sit and watch aquariums full of mice-- we used to call it Cat TV. I also put heavy books or bricks on top of the lids (careful not to keep the air out though) and kept them on the back of a table where the cat could not knock them off. It's hard to have mice and cats.
Try the orange peels. It won't hurt the mice. Let me know if it helps!
squeaks n giggles,
Natasha
>update<
PS I have decided it would be cool to be Facebook friends with some of my questioners. If you would like to friend me, I am the only Natasha Millikan on Facebook. And you will get to see my mice... and more so, my rats, including mouse-sized rats! Be sure to attach a message or I might not accept. But if you have questions do continue to use this site, so that other people can benefit from the answers.
Preview:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150091824234803
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